Democrats object to voters
having to show IDWhere is voting reform going? In New Mexico
and nearly everywhere else in the country, nowhere.by Russell Betts
Editor, GoGov.com (November 2, 2002)

On the way to election reform, Democrats with a 7 to 5 majority on the New
Mexico Voters and Elections
Committee voted to block a Republican sponsored measure that would have required voters to show
identification before being allowed to vote.

Democrat chairman of the Voters and Elections Committee,
Ed Sandoval, defended the vote saying Democrats in the New Mexico House don't like the idea of voter
ID. Sandoval said requiring ID would make it harder for people to vote.

Isn't that exactly the point? Election reform is
supposed to make it harder to vote, at least for those people who are not
supposed to be voting in the first place, those who would vote twice and those
attempting to defraud the voting system.

A
look at the headlines across the U.S. show the epidemic voter fraud has
become and the many blatant examples of election fraud becoming a routine
and entrenched part of electioneering.

In
DesMoines, Iowa, A deluge of absentee ballots has prompted
complaints and suspicion by the elections commissioner.

In
Sioux Falls, South Dakota investigators recovered charred
pieces of absentee ballot applications at the property of a woman
suspected of forging voters' names.

In
Orlando, Florida, election workers incredibly are donning
plastic gloves and separating out absentee ballots so investigators
can dust the envelopes for fingerprints in search for illegally cast
ballots.

Similar
headlines can be found for every state. Election fraud is no longer an
exception, but the rule. And it's not limited to absentee ballots. It's
all voting and it's time the rules were changed.

No one thinks twice about producing ID when writing
a check or to buy alcohol but look out in New Mexico where
Democrats think it is too much of an imposition on voters to require them to
show ID when voting
for president.

Why?
Because by and large it is the Democrats that are committing the voter fraud and
that are benefiting from illegal voting.

Don't
expect the Democrats to be at the forefront of measures to reduce election
fraud. And as is the case in New Mexico, where the Democrats are in
control, expect them to make every effort to block serious initiatives for
reform to be rejected.

When
it comes to election reform, holding onto votes - any votes, illegal votes,
fraudulent votes, votes cast more than once - is more important
to Democrats than election reform.